Data watch: Pro-govt pages, BJP spend most on Facebook, Insta ads in Feb

The list put out by Facebook also shows that the top three advertisers are all pro-government pages, namely - Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat, Nation with NaMo and MyGov India

With the 2019 Lok Sabha elections drawing close, it appears that parties and politicians have upped their ad game with pro-government ads leading the race on social media. You can view the complete data here.

The monthly report (February 1-March 2) put out by Facebook, in its effort to increase transparency, shows that Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat spent over Rs 1 crore — the highest amount — for running 1,168 advertisements across Facebook/Instagram. Moreover, these ads ran without any disclaimer. According to Facebook, "When an advertiser categorizes their ad as being related to politics or an issue of national importance, they are required to disclose who paid for the ad.If an ad ran without a disclaimer, this field will say, "These ads ran without a disclaimer." This means that after the ad started running, we determined it was related to politics and issues of national importance and required the label. The ad was taken down."

The list also shows that the top three advertisers are all pro-government pages, namely — Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat, Nation with NaMo and MyGov India, the only verified account amongst the top three. They cumulatively spend over Rs 1.7 crore for promoting 1,913 ads, that too, without running any disclaimer.

Screenshots of two ads by 'Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat' Facebook page

From February 2019 to March 2, 2019, the official page “Bharat Ki Mann Ki Baat” spent over Rs 18 lakh on advertising 338  different ads across Facebook and Instagram. In second place is a page called “Nation with NaMo”, having spent nearly Rs 12 lakh during the same month with 443 ads. In third place is “MyGov India” with Rs 9 lakh being spent on nine ads.

Screenshot of two ads by 'Nation with NaMo' Facebook page

A screenshot of the ads put out by MyGov India Facebook page

 

However, all three pages also sponsored ads with disclaimers and spent over Rs 39 lakh in 840 ads collectively. Interestingly, MyGov India spent Rs 913,786 in just nine ads in February. 

At the 10th position in the list is the verified page of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that spent Rs 660,404 for two ads with the disclaimer of its handle name. 

Here are the top 20 page names in order of the highest amount spent:

Page Name	Disclaimer	Amount Spent (Rs)	Number of Ads
Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat	These ads ran without a disclaimer	10160240	1168
Nation with NaMo	These ads ran without a disclaimer	5224296	631
MyGov India	These ads ran without a disclaimer	2527349	114
Dailyhunt App	These ads ran without a disclaimer	2219395	14
Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat	Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat	1847555	388
Nation with NaMo	Nation with NaMo	1186079	443
Dailyhunt	These ads ran without a disclaimer	1094011	2
Great Learning	These ads ran without a disclaimer	1087656	16
MyGov India	Akash Jain	913786	9
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	660404	2
BabyChakra	These ads ran without a disclaimer	623766	1
Karnataka Towards Development	These ads ran without a disclaimer	620267	9
Naveen Patnaik	Sasmit Patra	448672	13
Transforming India	These ads ran without a disclaimer	373801	4
Public	These ads ran without a disclaimer	321889	92
NaMo Merchandise	These ads ran without a disclaimer	317852	41
Inshorts	These ads ran without a disclaimer	302464	30
HousingMan	These ads ran without a disclaimer	239361	89
Amit Shah	These ads ran without a disclaimer	212071	1

Naveen Patnaik stands out 

Leaving all politicians behind, the official page of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has spent the most — Rs 862,981 — on 32 ads in February. These have been published by Sasmit Patra, Biju Janata Dal Odisha and unknown sources. 

Following him is BJP chief Amit Shah's official page that spent Rs 212,071 on just one ghost advertisement. 

Page Name	Disclaimer	Amount Spent (Rs)	Number of Ads
Naveen Patnaik	Sasmit Patra	448672	13
Naveen Patnaik	Biju Janata Dal Odisha	208135	14
Naveen Patnaik	These ads ran without a disclaimer	206174	5

Top search items 

The Facebook report also stated that from February 24 to March 2, the top search words searched on Facebook and Instagram were "bjp, modi, congress, narendra modi and India."